My Carbon Footprint

Considering that I have taken six European return flights this year I was wondering about my Carbon Footprint.

There are various websites that calculate this for you. I chose co2.myclimate.org as the site is easy to use and they don't seem to have any obvious axe to grind. They also explain how they have worked things out.

Adding up the six flights, I have generated about 4.4 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide.

What percentage of my overall carbon footprint is this?

• Driving the car for a year is about 4 t. 
• Living where I do and following my lifestyle is about 8.1 t and
• Breathing for a year is about 0.3 t.

This means that my overall carbon footprint this year will be about 16.7 tonnes of which 26% is flights.

According to myclimate.org, if I:

• Always travelled by public transport, cycled or walked (saving - 1.8 t)
• Never flew (saving - 4.4 t)
• Only eat vegetarian food (saving - 1.2 t)
• Very rarely bought new products, clothes or decorative items (saving - 0.2 t)
• Moved to an energy efficient building (saving - 1.6 t)
• Only took quick showers (already doing it)
• Wore a pullover in winter when I am at home (already doing it)
• Stop breathing (hang on a minute - don't include that!)

I could reduce it to 3.3 t

If I don't make these changes, can I offset 13.5 tonnes of Carbon?

The most popular ways of offsetting are:

• Replacing fossil energy sources with renewable energy or by promoting energy-efficient technologies.
• Contributing to social, ecological and economic development projects.
• Purchasing Carbon Credits

All of these are discussed in this interesting article at ethicalconsumer.org or here at responsibletravel.com.

So would it help if I stopped flying? Errr. Not really. No.

1) HF Holidays would send a different walks leader
2) The plane would fly anyway
3) We'd still be heading for a Climate Catastrophe

Stopping the Climate Catastrophe won't be done by carbon offsetting or a few people flying less.

We need to:

• Shift to renewable energy sources like tidal power
• Provide free public transport as an alternative to driving and flying
• Stop destroying forests for intensive agriculture
• Create protected areas in the oceans in which sea life can flourish
• Encourage people to appreciate their environment and enjoy walking (already doing it)

 Isn't that a bit of a cop out though? You are willing to recycle your waste and you don't drop litter. [Ed.]

I guess I'm willing to do things that are easy to do but not things that would have a big impact on my life like becoming a vegetarian or not flying. If there was a genuinely easy alternative, I would use it.
 

Visitors from Misato

I have recently become Treasurer of Hebden Bridge Walkers Action. Yesterday we were visited by seven representatives of the town council of Misato in Japan. They came to Britain to find out about Walkers are Welcome towns as they are planning to set up something similar in their home town.

At the weekend they attended the Walkers are Welcome conference in Kirby Stephen and stayed in Otley before coming to visit us in Hebden Bridge. They came here because Hebden Bridge was the first Walkers are Welcome town. They were welcomed by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of our local Town Council, HebdenRoyd. There was a discussion and an exchange of ideas followed by coffee and cake.

Visitors from Misato with the Mayor

Walkers Action then accompanied the visitors on the bus up to Heptonstall. After a quick look around the historic village we walked back down to Hebden Bridge for Lunch in the White Lion.

Hebden Bridge Walkers Action have signed a Memorandum of Friendship with Misato in which we agree to support each other to:

• Encourage towns and villages in our respective countries to be "Welcoming to Walkers".
• Offer local people and visitors excellent walking opportunities.
• Promote the health benefits of walking.
• Increase participation in walking.
• Encourage the use of local transport.
• Ensure that footpaths and facilities for walkers are maintained, improved and well signposted.
• Encourage appreciation of the local countryside, landscape, cultural heritage, and ecology

It was wonderful to meet people from Japan who are as enthusiastic as we are about these objectives.